T-freaking-GIF, November 17

Okay, seriously…not everyone in my house is happy it is Friday. I should probably be more sedate in my enthusiasm for the week’s end since Steve was selected to serve on jury today of all days. Now, if you live in Pittsburgh you already know what the problem is, for those that don’t its Light Up Night here. Which is apparently utter chaos if you work (or serve on a jury) downtown.

However, I am so freaking glad it is Friday especially that while my to-do list still has things on it, most of the big things are not!

First up, as I previously shared, I went to the Pittsburgh Indie Knit and Spin last weekend. While there were so many lovely vendors, most of the things offered were all “the same” (as in the same fiber, just dyed slightly differently) however, I did find one vendor who is doing some really amazing fiber blends. I would have fallen hard off my fiber diet, but I had the voice of reason with me. He is really good at saying no to things. LOL But, I wanted to share Hipstrings with you all today. Even if you are not a spinner, she has an amazing mill spun yarn that is really incredible. The dark brown fiber is Coal, which is a blend of Finn, Shetland, Black Welsh, and Tussah Silk. The feel of this fiber is just incredible, and I can’t wait to spin it! The other fiber is Wild Geese, a Shetland, BFL, Manx Loaghtan, and Flax. I know! Crazy! Anyways, a little bird told me that she has open studio hours monthly, so I see a trip to visit in my future!

AND!!! I finished Rusty yesterday while catching up with Outlander. All it needs are the final ends woven in and a nice soak and blocking. FYI, Steve thinks the sleeves are too short, and he may be right, but I will see what a bit of blocking does. But, even unblocked – I seriously love this sweater! And here are my mods: I knit the sweater as written until I got to the colorwork. I then added 3 stitches to make the colorwork pattern work out evenly. I did crochet steeks and then picked up stitches and knit on button bands rather than the crochet ones the pattern called for. I knit 6 repeats of the ribbing pattern and then bound off. After a conversation with Mary, I did YO K2tog button holes (I did 10 of them which worked best for me). Now all I need to do is find some buttons, but I think I am going to use my Nana’s button collection. I might be able to find 10 matching buttons, but if not, I know there are for sure 10 white buttons. Full beauty shots next week!

Oh, and the links this week were plentiful and sooo good!

This hat…but really, if you have never knit with Elsa’s yarn, this is the project you must do! Really!! I promise it is so divine and your head will thank you!

I’ve been thinking about Aurora Borealis ever since I saw it. I must knit that hat (and have possibly started shopping for the perfect yarn). Rusty is even more beautiful than I imagined, and now I’m looking forward to seeing it with Nana buttons and modeled. Happy weekend (and good luck to Steve)!

Your sweater looks fantastic! I am looking forward to seeing it post-blocking, though, as I have a feeling you’re going to get a nice yarn bloom.

I don’t think you will be disappointed with your HipStrings purchases. Her fiber is absolutely amazing — and so reasonably priced, too. I’ll be spinning some of it this evening (more of what you saw on Saturday).

You really hit it out of the park with Rusty! Looking forward to seeing you show it off! I don’t often look at links, but this time you had so many fantastic things showcased that I’m considering knitting something new.

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About Me:

I am the mom of 3 amazing adult children and Nana to one precious granddaughter. I am a knitter and sometime spinner, an NPR junkie, gloriously liberal, a wanna be photographer, a voracious reader, a daily stitcher, and a lover of good food…